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Ashland County highway committee backs 2026 capital request and plan to speed truck delivery by hiring mechanic
Summary
The Ashland County Highway Committee voted to submit its 2026 capital improvement request — including a $590,000 equipment package — and endorsed hiring a mechanic to help assemble plow trucks in-house, a change commissioners say will speed delivery and may reduce builder markup.
ASHLAND COUNTY, Wis. — The Ashland County Highway Committee voted June 9 to forward its 2026 capital improvement and equipment requests to finance, including $590,000 in proposed vehicle and equipment purchases and a plan to hire a mechanic so the county can build some trucks in-house.
Committee members approved submitting the full capital package after a presentation from Highway Commissioner Matt Hinkle that spelled out planned paving and preservation projects and the department’s equipment needs.
Hinkle said the equipment request totals $590,000 and highlighted a $365,000 plow truck, a $155,000 shop truck and a heavier-rated trailer. He said the department typically replaces one plow truck per year to keep a reliable fleet that can serve 10 snowplow routes and that older trucks are costly to maintain. "We try to replace one plow truck per year," Hinkle said, adding that older vehicles become more expensive to maintain and lose trade-in value.
The packet presented to the committee listed a road-and-bridge package with a total project cost of $4,574,179 and a county portion of $1,209,636; Hinkle said those project totals must still go through the county budget process.
On the plow truck, Hinkle told the committee the county builder had reported about $73,000 of labor on a recent quote. To shorten delivery time and capture potential savings, the department proposes hiring a mechanic and doing at least part of the truck build in-house. Hinkle said roughly $70,000 of the chassis-builder labor could be provided instead as wages for a county mechanic, allowing the chassis to arrive and the county to complete the truck in months rather than waiting up to a year for a completed unit.
Committee members discussed where the mechanic’s wage would be charged. Hinkle said the mechanic position would be paid from the equipment-usage fund, not from debt levy or general levy; equipment-usage receipts come from hourly charges when county equipment is used by towns, state contracts or county work.
The committee also discussed trade-in and auction practices for older units, noting older trucks typically bring modest sums at state auction and that some retired trucks are repurposed within the department.
After discussion about delivery timelines, fleet life and potential savings from state contract pricing for components, a motion to submit the full capital budget and equipment request to the finance committee passed by voice vote. Hinkle said finance and then executive committee approvals will be required before orders are placed.
What happens next
If finance and executive committees approve the funding and any new position authority, Hinkle said the department would order chassis after budget approval and aim to have the county-built truck ready the same construction season. He told the committee the county’s last in-house–assisted build shortened delivery so a chassis that arrives in June could become a road-ready truck within a few months.
The committee recorded its support for presenting the package to the county finance committee; the package still requires formal budget approval by the county board.
